10/28/2011

Universal Soldier: Regeneration (2009)

When
a terrorist group takes over part of Chernobyl and threatens
radioactive death if their demands are not met (and they kidnapped the
son and daughter of a prominent politician to boot), Luc Deveraux (Van
Damme) is called back into active duty. Now in a kind of rehab/therapy
where he's learning to live again, he must retrain for combat. He faces
his toughest challenge yet, as the terrorists used stolen technology to
create the ultimate emotionless, unstoppable killing machine, dubbed
"The Freak" by U.S. forces (Orlovsky). But they also open Pandora's box
and resurrect Deveraux's old nemesis Andrew Scott (Dolph). Deveraux has
his work cut out for him this time around...

It's
actually pretty shocking how good Universal Soldier: Regeneration truly
is. It doesn't even really HAVE to be this
good. Far from your average "dumb" action movie, this seems to be a
rejection of that notion, striking an excellent, precise balance between
melancholy intelligence and frighteningly brutal violence.

Regeneration
appears to be a reaction to The Return. Almost as if the filmmakers
were embarrassed by the badness and silliness of that unfortunate
outing, the swung the pendulum back the other direction (almost too
much), creating a dark, adult, nihilistically violent creation, but it's
not without some emotion and humanity as well. Just a great job done
all around.

Everything from the production
values, to the acting, to the action, and everything else in between is
light years beyond The Return, making it truly a travesty that that
turkey was released theatrically in the U.S., while this wasn't.
Regeneration is well-shot and well-directed by John Hyams, son of
director Peter. Hyams
treats the material seriously and with respect, and everything that
happens plotwise makes perfect sense. It's all idea-based (even
retaining the best ideas from the first Universal Soldier film), not
throwaway action. In the hands of another director, this could have been
half-heartedly slagged off as "just another Universal Soldier movie".
But the fact that Hyams does not do that, or even come close, is totally
refreshing and comes as a great relief for true action fans.

Hyams
hits all the right notes - from utilizing the bleak Bulgarian locations
to their fullest potential, to bringing the Universal Soldier franchise
into the present day. Using the Navy Seal-like soldiers strongly
reminiscent of the U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the
uncompromising nature of war, as a background to amplify the audience's
fears about our own mortality. After all, even our best soldiers are no
match for their SuperSoldiers. We'll definitely be watching to see what
Hyams does in the future, as he
seems to have a strong grasp of how to do muscular action.

Undoubtedly,
many consumers probably thought that this IS just another Universal
Soldier installment - it's almost a shame that this movie doesn't have
another title. Having been burned on The Return, consumers might not
know what they're truly getting here - something much, much different
and worthwhile.

Van Damme puts in an
excellent performance, Dolph is always awesome, and Orlovsky is
perfectly cast as the scary freak. All the actors in the film do a
pitch-perfect job. A definite win for everyone involved, we
enthusiastically support Universal Soldier: Regeneration.

I would've been with you on this, if not for the Dolph Bait-and-switch. I can't abide by having Dolph prominently on the cover, and only in the film for like 10 minutes-- even though it was a great ten minutes. You could also make the case that this is a Van Damme bait-and-switch too, because he's maybe in it a third, most of which is spent in a lab. I'm hoping the next one will be the true showcase of Dolph and Van Damme that this one was sold to us as.

This wasn`t good, I must strongly disagree..Dolph was wasted, and even Van Damme didnt have enough screen time.Violence alone doesnt make a movie good. Guess too much DTV does lower the bar of expectation.It wasnt good in my humble opinion, having been one of the greatest JCVD Fans of all time,lol.

I side with Hellford667 on this one. Not nearly enough JCVD or Dolph in it for my tastes. The villain really overshadowed the first half of the movie and Van Damme spent too much of the movie out of commission. The JCVD vs. Dolph scene was quite epic but it was too little too late.

Van Damme acted without passion and a face that could make me push the stop button, so absent or bored..the last scene is just him walking away...like he was glad to be finally done with this. I hope he makes for a good villain in EXP 2, but im in doubt...for a few years now , he looks so drained of life, its a shame. In his tv reality show, which Id say you should watch , he even asks for a year off, but only keeps making cheap movies, 3 or so in a row,4 if we count exp 2 in. I have to write a big thing about him on my blog soon, feel like it has to get off my chest, as a former first rate fan its so sad watching his last efforts. But ok, for that, stop by on my blog in the next few days..:)

great review. totally agree: this installment was awesome. great action, great use of music, great bleak style. one of the best direct-to-DVD action films of the past few years. roll on Universal Soldier: A New Dimension...

You know what? I was fine that Van Damme and Dolph weren't the main focus of the film. I think it would have been corny to have Dolph as the main villain again, but as a sub villain, that was cool. Also it made it feel like there was a world outside of Luc Devereaux and Andrew Scott.

I think it was likely a cost thing - having Dolph only for 5 days and Van Damme for 10 (was it?). It made Hyams think creatively how to use them best.

I expect New Dimension will do the same thing by focusing on Scott Adkins while using Van Damme and Lundgren in small doses.

Anyway, good review - it's a very above average DTV sequel. Will probably try and cover it soon.

I thought the movie was ok (and quite brutal at times) and hey...I bought it on Blu-Ray! But I will agree that Jean Claude looked bored throughout this movie. Dolph seemed to be having fun (doesn't he always?)

Lee Nicholson: It's possible that JCVD was contractually obligated to make this - We hadn't heard that. That might explain his bored expression throughout.

Hoaks2: Forget about "The Return"! The makers of Regeneration obviously knew The Return sucked royally (and that it is insult to the Royals) so they tried to eradicate all memory of it. Looking forward to your opinion about it!